In 2018, Crush & Lovely partnered with Rose Gold to host a dinner in Portland that brought together women of color from the leading sneaker brands. There, we made a deal with all involved: if they would commit to making an impact in diversity and inclusion at their companies — whatever they could achieve from their own seats and with their own reach — we, and everyone else in the room, would stand with them and support them in achieving it.
Since then, we have collected over one hundred and twenty commitments from women around the country who are dedicated to making impactful change in their organizations and communities. We hear these women, and we honor their courage and determination in using their own hands, feet, and voices to change the world.
Following the viral criticism of the lack of diversity in Virgil Abloh’s Off-White staff and the recent NY Times article spotlighting similar issues at Adidas HQ, one thing is clear; there is a call from many for a more moral brand.
But brands are not real.
They are just our way to understand the multilayered, complex organism that results from many different people coming to work every day.
Crush & Lovely does not work with brands; we work with people.
People who know that if they want to see change, they have to make it. People who make choices every day about the world they want to build. At Crush, our mission is to bring clarity to those choices, to understand them, and to help each other make the right choices, to build a better world.
We believe we are in need of a moral and cultural awakening in the United States. It is vitally important to consider what we choose to commit to, what to work on, and — most importantly — who it is we work for.
We commit to building with and supporting those who work for something better — a future where companies address historical inequities and compensate for them. Where brands celebrate the vibrancy and beauty of diversity in America both in their marketing and their board rooms.
Because we choose to stand with those who refuse to allow what was to remain, who deny comfortable injustices with uncomfortable truths, and who work tirelessly and unflinchingly for the future we know we can build together.